Turkey making inroads in North Macedonia
Three days after the opening of the defense company ASELSAN’s headquarters in North Macedonia, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Skopje on Thursday in a bid to demonstrate the role Ankara wants to play in the internal affairs of North Macedonia and the Balkans.
In his joint press conference with his counterpart Timco Mucunski, Fidan initially referred to “Macedonia” (rather than North Macedonia), and only later used the country’s full name.
According to Turkish sources, the two ministers discussed bilateral relations, developments in the Balkans, economic relations and the strengthening of cooperation in the defense industry.
“The companies of our country’s defense industry hold leading positions in the world and I would like to stress that these companies are ready to contribute to North Macedonia,” said Fidan.
He also referred to the Turkish minority in North Macedonia, stressing that “we attach importance to the positive relations between the Turkish communities in North Macedonia and the maintenance of this harmony.”
“We believe that the rights and demands of the Turkish community based on the law will be respected by all authorities in North Macedonia. I am confident that the new government will also open its arms to the issue of the Turkish community’s demands for education in their mother tongue and infrastructure needs within the framework of the law,” he added.
For his part, Mucunski asserted that “Turkey is our partner and ally in NATO.”
“Since independence, our country has always relied on Turkey and they are our loyal and proven friends. They have supported our country in achieving its highest strategic goals,” he stressed, adding that “we share common views with Turkey on security and regional issues.”
Turkey is already North Macedonia’s seventh largest trading partner. Trade volume between the two countries amounted to 1 billion dollars last year and Ankara’s goal is to reach 2 billion dollars within a few years.
Turkey’s foreign minister is expected to visit Kosovo on Friday.
